


Hope and Despair

by TheViolentTomboy



Category: Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magika | Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: AU, Crossover, Gen, pre-ascension, this won't end well
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-06-24
Updated: 2013-08-31
Packaged: 2017-12-16 02:09:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,707
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/856559
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheViolentTomboy/pseuds/TheViolentTomboy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Before Artemis even meets the Team, she contracts with Kyubey. This can only end badly.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Artemis lets out a small sigh of relief when the Grief Seed gently clinks against her Soul Gem; the green stone, encased in gold and topped with a crescent moon, is sparkling bright and shining again when the darkness is sucked away. It feels as though an actual physical weight has been lifted off of her shoulders.

_Your performance is impeccable as always, Artemis Crock._

She snorts, idly kicking her dangling feet and taking in the view of the Gotham skyline. Tossing the full Grief Seed over her shoulder, she replies, “Bet you haven’t met another girl with a life like mine.”

Artemis turns her head to see the Grief Seed disappearing into the hole on Kyubey’s back.

 _Gotham City teems with witches, so much that the other Puella Magi I have contracted here simply could not keep up and ultimately fell in the line of duty,_ Kyubey remarks, hopping towards her side.

Artemis’ eyelids lower slightly at those words. “But I already knew how to fight before I contracted. I’m not going to kick the bucket any time soon, so I’ll keep killing those witches and protect as many people as I can.”

The Soul Gem reforms itself into a ring, and Artemis laces her fingers together before stretching out her arms and falling onto her back, staring up at the starless sky. Her mother’s due to be released from prison tomorrow. She isn’t quite sure how to feel. Part of her is happy, of course. She hasn’t been writing all those letters to her mother for nothing. But seeing how her family has never been normal to begin with, she knows better than to hope that things will be rainbows and butterflies from now on. And with the contract she made just a few scant weeks ag , she already made her choice about her future, hasn’t she?

Kyubey’s face is suddenly in front of her own. She can’t help but to give an undignified yelp as she shoots back up.

 _The night is still young. You can continue,_ Kyubey says.

“You’re lucky I’m not going to punt you off this building,” Artemis grumbles, getting to her feet.

 _That action would accomplish nothing,_ Kyubey simply replies. Artemis grumbles again before splaying out her hand, her Soul Gem in its egg-like form once more. The inner light pulses, signifying that there is a witch nearby.

“And the hunt is on,” Artemis mutters before leaping onto the next roof.


	2. Chapter 2

The purple Soul Gem cupped in the little girl's hands, with a five-pointed star on its top, is already heavily splotched with black. Artemis can feel the fury rising up to her ears.

"Kyubey, what were you thinking contracting a kid?! You're the one who keeps mentioning how all the other girls barely lasted a week in Gotham," she snarls.

The little girl, Stephanie, shrinks back slightly, but she quickly straightens up again and looks Artemis in the eye. "Hey, you're a kid too! So don't put me down just yet!"

"I'm the one who's been in training for most of my life," Artemis shoots back. God, the kid looks as though she isn't even ten yet. She returns her attention to Kyubey.

 _It is my duty to find girls with potential. If she has a wish, I cannot ignore her,_ Kyubey replies, his tail swishing back and forth.

Artemis resists the urge to yank out her own ponytail. Or better yet, Kyubey's ears.

"I want to stop bad people like my dad, so I wished for the power to do it!" Stephanie says, stomping her foot on the ground. Artemis freezes at her words.

"Your...dad?" Artemis says slowly.

Stephanie pouts, crossing her arms across her chest. "Ever hear of the Cluemaster?"

Artemis has, actually. Just a passing remark from her own father. Nothing but a two-bit Riddler copycat, really, but he still has given the Gotham PD quite a few headaches. Still, Stephanie has a criminal father, just like her-

Oh no. They have something in common now. They have something they can bond over.

Artemis sighs in resignation. There's no way she's going to let Stephanie fend for herself anyways. "So how many witches have you killed yet?"

Stephanie looks a bit sheepish now. "Um, none?"

Artemis's eyebrows nearly shoot off her forehead. _"What?!_ Then what have you been doing that your Soul Gem is this dark already?!"

"I _did_ wish to stop my dad, so I've been messing up his heists with my powers," Stephanie chirps, looking rather proud of herself.

Artemis lets out a frustrated growl before grabbing Stephanie's wrist and pressing a Grief Seed to the Soul Gem. The Soul Gem now sparkling clean, Artemis places the Grief Seed in Stephanie's other hand. It's still good for another use. Thankfully, with Gotham's many witches, Artemis has plenty of Seeds left to spare. She has quite a stockpile saved up, as a matter of fact.

"Look, you have to keep your Gem clean. The more magic you use, the darker it gets, so if it gets completely dark, you can't use magic anymore. And if you can't use magic, you can't kill witches to replenish yourself," Artemis explains, her voice rough. "So don't use your magic frivolously if you don't have any spare Grief Seeds."

Stephanie's eyes widen at the sight of her shining Soul Gem before looking back up to Artemis and smiling brightly. "Yes, ma'am! So can we go hunting witches together now?"

Artemis knows this question was coming. She really has been planning on going solo on this magical girl gig, but that's mostly because Kyubey's cryptic words implied that he wasn't interesting in contracting another girl since he has her now. So much for that.

"Well, you've been using your powers for awhile now, so how's about you tell me what you can do?"


	3. Chapter 3

Stephanie, as it turns out, has a very useful ability.

A heavy rain of apples and oranges comes pelting down on them. Stephanie quickly raises her hand and the fruit all glows in purple light as they freeze midair. That's when the steak and pork chop-shaped, butcher-knife wielding familiars come charging in; Artemis fires arrows of green light at them, and the few who manage to escape the initial barrage and get too close get whacked with Stephanie's bo staff, ending up as immobile as the fruit.

Wishing to stop her father has granted Stephanie immobilizing magic; she can halt any inanimate object in its tracks at her command, but living creatures require to be actually hit by her weapon. Apparently, she messed with her father's getaway vehicle the other day.

The path to the witch is now clear and the two girls go charging in with Stephanie in the lead. Artemis has to admit, for an eight-year old with absolutely zero formal training, Stephanie's handling herself pretty well. While they were tracking the witch, Stephanie couldn't stop chatting for a second, practically driving Artemis insane, but now she's surprisingly calm and level-headed while in the witch's labyrinth, following all of Artemis's instructions to the letter.

Stephanie leaps towards the massive witch, swinging her bo staff down. Artemis shoots every tentacle the witch raises to strike Stephanie down. Sure enough, Stephanie delivers the blow and flips back; the witch is now completely still, encased in purple light.

Artemis smirks when she draws the string. The blazing arrow that forms keeps extending until it's the length of a javelin. She lets it fly, and the arrow streaks through the air like a comet before completely destroying the witch.

Stephanie lets out a whoop and cheer when the labyrinth distorts and disappears, leaving the two of them back at the alleyway where they went in. Artemis can't help but to smile as well; having Stephanie with her ended up using less time and magic. And it was actually kind of, well, nice, fighting alongside of someone else.

"Good job, kid," Artemis says as her magical uniform disappears in a burst of green sparkles. She picks up the Grief Seed on the ground. Stephanie's still grinning like a loon, hopping up and down while her own uniform vanishes as well, but she frowns a bit when she takes in what Artemis is wearing right now.

"I want an outfit like that too," she whines. "Why can't I have one?"

Artemis rolls her eyes. She's rather proud of the Green Arrow-inspired suit she made herself by modifying one of the ones she wore when her dad was training her. There's no point in her using wasting magic to kick the butts of ordinary muggers in between hunts when she's more than capable of doing that with her natural abilities. In any case, she definitely does not have anything in Stephanie's size.

"Sorry kiddo, you'll have to make one by yourself," she says dryly. "Now hold out your Soul Gem."

Stephanie does so silently, which probably means that she's already planning her new nightwear. Artemis isn't sure whether or not giving her a spare miniature crossbow is a good idea. After training her for a bit, of course. At the very least, Stephanie should be taught how to punch someone in the face. Artemis personally prefers kicks, but Stephanie's still too short for that.

Neither of their Gems are that muddled, so Artemis just puts the Grief Seed into the pocket of Stephanie's purple hoodie.

"Let's go home, Steph. It's getting late."


	4. Chapter 4

Red Arrow waits impatiently in the shadows, staring at the old, out of order phone booth. He did spend three years of his life living with Ollie and he _knows_ that the man has no niece. He doesn't trust the new girl as far as he can shoot and will tell her exactly what she'll have to deal with if she messes with his friends.

He's so lost in his thoughts with his eyes trained solely on the booth that he doesn't realize until the last second that someone is attacking him. He ducks to avoid having his head being hit with a bo staff and rolls back, his bow ready. His eyes widen when he sees that his assailant is a tiny girl wearing a purple cloak over a purple, knee-length dress that is far too lacy to be practical.

"Who are you, brat?" Red Arrow demands, though he can't help but to lower his bow ever so slightly. 

"Who are you, creepy guy?!" the girl yells back, brandishing her golden bo staff. Her voice, though muffled by the black mask that obscures the lower half of her face, is high-pitched and squeaky. Red Arrow thinks about putting his bow away, but notes that the tips of the staff are glowing with an eerie purple light, so he steadies his hand. "Why are you hanging around here?!"

"Look, I think there's been some sort of misunderstanding," Red Arrow says slowly. If he's being called a creep, chances are that this girl thinks that she's a good guy and he isn't. "I'm a hero on hero business."

The girl takes a good long moment to squint at him. "I've never seen you on TV," she says flatly.

"I'm Red-er, Speedy," he grumbles out, remembering how he just changed his hero handle yesterday and has yet to announce this to any civilians.

"Speedy wears a hat. And you stuttered. And you didn't look me in the eye," the girl rattles off. "So that means you're a liar liar, pants on fire."

And with those eloquent lines, she charges.

-

Artemis never gets the chance to mull over the events of her first real hero mission as she steps out of the Zeta tube to find Red Arrow holding a wiggling, in Puella Magi-form Stephanie in a chokehold. He's not the only one trapped, as his entire body is glowing, meaning that Stephanie managed to hit him with her magic. Both are in a stalemate and neither look willing to yield, given the way they're awkwardly glaring at each other.

"What the-"

"Artemi-i-i-s! Help!" Stephanie squeals.

"St-Spoiler!" Artemis remembers to call her by the name Stephanie insists on now for hero duty. "Let him go, now!"

"You know this brat?!" Red Arrow says angrily.

"But he's a creep who was just hanging out where you were going to come out and he looked really suspicious and what if he saw you come out and oh yeah how was your first mission and did you see Robin and get his autograph from him like I asked?"

Stephanie somehow says this all in one breath.

"How did you even know where to-" Artemis cuts herself off when she sees Kyubey hopping over to Red Arrow's feet. She palms her face.

"Never mind. Just let him go. Yes, he's a grouchy creep-"

Red Arrow's eyebrow twitches.

"-but he's still a hero. That's Speedy."

"Red Arrow," he corrects automatically.

"See, he says he's not. Speedy wears a hat and is in Star City," Stephanie pouts.

"I changed my handle and costume," Red Arrow says testily. " _Now_ will you release me?"

Stephanie's still pouting, but the light fades and Red Arrow is free to let her go as well. She quickly scampers over to Artemis's side and Kyubey follows.

_I told you to wait for me_ , Artemis says through Kyubey's mind link with a stern glare.

_But I couldn't wait_ , Stephanie replies simply, as if that is a good enough reason. Then again, it _is_ past midnight now. She starts jumping up and down. _So now can you tell me everything that happened? You can do it while we're tracking._

Artemis groans aloud. She takes Stephanie by the hand and marches out of the alley, but Red Arrow grabs her by the shoulder.

"Hey, there's still something I need to say to you," he says roughly. Artemis slaps his hand away.

"Look, voice your complaints later; I know you don't like me-"

"I don't even trust you!" Red Arrows explodes. "I know that you're not really Green Arrow's niece-"

Stephanie kicks him in the shin, causing him to yelp in pain.

"And who is this kid?! Does Batman even know about her?! Let me tell you, one thing Batman's famous for in the hero circle is how no one's allowed to operate in Gotham without his permission."

Even with the mask on, Stephanie looks worried at those words and she grips onto Artemis tighter.

"Batman and Green Arrow must have a good reason for covering for you so I'll give you the benefit of the doubt for you being allowed in their little kiddie club. But somehow I doubt either of them know about this kid."

Red Arrow clearly isn't going to let the matter drop now, and knocking him out and running for it now will just bring trouble later.

"She's teaching me how to fight! She's been looking out for me ever since I got my powers last week!" Stephanie bursts out, stomping her foot. "So if you're going to keep being mean to Artemis, I'll freeze you again!"

Part of Artemis wants to slap a hand over Stephanie's mouth; maybe it's Steph's age, maybe it's the similarities of their lives, maybe it's just _Steph_ , but she can't help but to be completely honest with the kid. Which is kind of liability considering all of the secrets she's keeping. Heck, just because Green Arrow and Batman know about her family history doesn't mean she's going to them about her magical side job anytime soon. She hasn't even told her mother.

Still, the warmth can't help but to burst in her chest with Stephanie standing up for her. The words seem to have an effect on Red Arrow as well; after all, villains aren't prone to sticking up for each other, after all.

"Fine," Red Arrow simply grumbles and turns his head away. "Just don't hurt my friends."

And with that he steps out of the alleyway and leaves first.

"What a poopy head," Stephanie says, her lower lip sticking out. She turns to Artemis. "Now can we go hunting?"

Artemis sighs, suddenly feeling even more weary than she has all day. Still, she can't turn Stephanie down. "Sure kid, but let's lay down some new rules now that I'm officially in the hero business now..." 


End file.
